Grand Cross
Grand Cross (also called Grand Cruz, Holy Cross or Cross Crash) is an attack involving very large crosses which deal heavy Holy-based damage. It can be performed by many protagonists in the series that are Belmont relatives or use Holy based attacks as a primary trait. The origin of this technique was in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence where Leon Belmont uses it by fusing the Cross sub-weapon with the Yellow Orb. There are three versions of this attack: *In the first version, seen only in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, a giant crucifix appears suspended behind Richter, then multiple crucifixes rise up from the bottom, covering the whole screen and hitting anything in their path. *In the second version, a pillar of light surrounds the caster; several crosses then spiral up this column, dealing massive damage. *Finally, in the third version, a large cross of energy appears suspended behind the caster, causing damage to anything that touches it. Even though these forms look different, the effective range of the last two versions is similar, which is anything nearby or above. Variations Rising crosses The Grand Cross item crush was first introduced in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. To cast it, Richter must be in possession of the Cross sub-weapon and activate its item crush attack. A giant crucifix will appear behind him and a series of flashing crosses will rise up from the bottom, covering the whole screen and dealing heavy damage to anything they touch. Rondo of Blood - Grand Cross - 02.png|'Grand Cross' as it appears in the intro cutscene of Rondo of Blood Rondo of Blood - Grand Cross - 03.gif|'Grand Cross' from Rondo of Blood Pillar of crosses *The "pillar" version was first used as Richter's item crash with the Cross sub-weapon in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It was also the normal action for Alucard in that game when he used the Cross (100 Hearts). *The move returned as Nathan Graves' Cross item crush in Circle of the Moon when combining the Pluto + Salamander DSS cards. *It was also used by Juste Belmont in Harmony of Dissonance when he fused the Cross with the Bolt Book. *It could be performed by Leon Belmont by using the Cross with the Yellow Orb equipped. **It could also be performed by Pumpkin by using the Cross with the same name sub-weapon equipped. *It was used as Trevor Belmont's special version sub-weapon for the Cross in Curse of Darkness (an effect similar to an item crash). *It was a Dual Crush available to Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin upon completing Wind's "Master the Holy Power" quest in Portrait of Ruin. *In Castlevania Judgment, it can be used by Simon, Trevor, Eric, Alucard, Grant, Cornell, Maria and Sypha. *It's also a Dual Crush used in Harmony of Despair whenever two Belmont-like characters (Jonathan, Julius, Richter, etc.) dual crush together. Lament of Innocence - Grand Cross - 01.jpg|'Grand Cross' from Lament of Innocence Portrait of Ruin - Grand Cruz - 01.png|'Grand Cruz' from Portrait of Ruin Pachislot 2 Grand Cross.jpg|Trevor's Grand Cross from Pachislot Akumajō Dracula II DC - Grand Cross.JPG|'Holy Cross' from Harmony of Despair Pachislot Akumajō Dracula II - 01|'Grand Cross' from Pachislot Akumajō Dracula II (jump to 1:08) Suspended cross The "suspended" version was first shown to be used by Julius Belmont in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. It differs slightly depending on whether Julius uses it as a boss or a playable character. During the boss battle, Julius slowly rises up in the air, pulling Soma towards him and crushing the castle in the background. He then unleashes Grand Cross for a total of seven consecutive hits. On the other hand, when Julius is controlled by the player in Julius Mode, it is a bit weaker. It no longer pulls enemies towards Julius, its duration is shorter, and thus it deals less damage. It returned as a sub-weapon for him in Dawn of Sorrow, although it was watered down a bit, as Julius was no longer invincible when he used the attack and it lost the vacuum property it had in Aria. He used this weapon to destroy a powerful barrier in Soma's story mode which protected the gates to the Abyss. Through a certain in-game glitch/cheat, Soma can equip Julius's version of the Grand Cross as a bullet soul (along with other Julius Mode characters' sub-weapons, like Alucard's Alucard Sword and Julius's Vampire Killer whip). Unlike Julius, Soma can move around while it is active (this is due to it being a glitched soul/weapon) and he doesn't rise up in the air like Julius. Richter Belmont gained use of this version of the Grand Cross in Portrait of Ruin. Interestingly enough, it also retained the effects of the "pillar" version, essentially making it a combination of both versions of the attack. Versions of this ability have also appeared in non-canon games. Kokoro Belmont used one in Otomedius Excellent called the "Lightning Sword" as her Platonic Break. This version is a horizontal beam instead of a vertical one for gameplay reasons, as this game is a horizontal-scrolling shooter rather than an action-platformer game. Holy Cruz.png|Julius's Grand Cross from Aria of Sorrow Holy Cruz, player.png|Julius's Grand Cross from Aria of Sorrow as a playable character Julius Holy Cross 2.png|Julius's Grand Cross from Dawn of Sorrow Cruz-Julius.png|Julius's Grand Cross from Dawn of Sorrow as a playable character Blood cross A bloody version of this attack, called Blood Cross, appears as a Dual Crush in Harmony of Despair whenever one of the Belmont-like characters dual crushes with Alucard or Soma. DC - Bloody Cross.JPG|'Blood Cross' variation from Harmony of Despair Other variations A different variation of Grand Cross appears in Pachislot Akumajō Dracula; Trevor will project forward a large cross made of holy energy. This cross is similar to Leon's Divine Cross (Cross + Blue Orb) from Lament of Innocence, with the difference that Trevor's version will be thrust forward a great distance, in a beam-like fashion, damaging anything in its path. While in Pachislot Akumajō Dracula II the Grand Cross returns to its "pillar" form, this time his Divine Cross is a variation of the Grand Cross from Pachislot I, where he will project another large cross made of holy energy and thrust it forward. In Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Grand Cross is the Final Smash of both Simon and Richter Belmont. When initiated, whatever enemy is hit will be encased in a coffin and thrown up into the air with the whip, before Simon/Richter unleashes a mass of holy light crosses into the air, damaging it. Pachislot Grand Cross.jpg|Trevor's Grand Cross from Pachislot Akumajō Dracula Pachislot Akumajō Dracula - 01|'Grand Cross' from Pachislot Akumajō Dracula (jump to 5:06) Pachislot Akumajō Dracula II - 02|'Divine Cross' from Pachislot Akumajō Dracula II (jump to 1:36) Graa.png|'Grand Cross' from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Item Data Animations DX Cross 2.gif|'Cross' Item Crash from Dracula X SOTN Cross.gif|Cross sub-weapon from Symphony of the Night SOTN Cross 3.gif|Cross Item Crash from Symphony of the Night Saturn Cross 3.gif|'Grand Cross' from the Sega Saturn version of Symphony of the Night COTM Pluto + Salamander + Cross.gif|'Pluto + Salamander + Cross' from Circle of the Moon HOD Cross + Bolt Book.gif|Cross + Bolt Book from Harmony of Dissonance AoS Cross 2.gif|Grand Cross from Aria of Sorrow DOS Grand Cross.gif|'Grand Cross' from Dawn of Sorrow Grand-CrossTrevor.gif|'Grand Cross' from Trevor Mode in Curse of Darkness POR Grand Cross.gif|'Grand Cross' from Portrait of Ruin POR Grand Cruz.gif|'Grand Cruz' Dual Crush from Portrait of Ruin DXC Cross 2.gif|'Cross' Item Crash from The Dracula X Chronicles HD Holy Cross.gif|'Holy Cross' Dual Crush from Harmony of Despair HD Blood Cross.gif|'Blood Cross' Dual Crush from Harmony of Despair Trivia *In Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, the Cross's Item Crash is the Grand Cross, whereas in Castlevania: Dracula X —a reimagining of Rondo— it was changed to an attack where several crosses are launched across the screen. It is worth mentioning this was the only item crash that was changed from the original game, the rest remained intact. This change was probably due either to the system's limitations, or actually censored due to Nintendo's regulations toward religious imagery on games for their systems. Category:Dual Crush Category:Holy Spells Category:Item Crash Category:Portrait of Ruin Items